Fort Duquesne

Fort Duquesne was a French colonial fort that was located at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), in use from 1754 to 1758. Fort Duquesne was one of several forts built by the French on the frontier with the goal of protecting French trade routes in the region, and its construction threatened the colony of Virginia's land claims, leading to Governor Robert Dinwiddie sending George Washington to reclaim the lost area. This led to the Battle of Jumonville Glen, which caused the start of the French and Indian War. The French held the fort successfully early in the war, turning back the Braddock Expedition at the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755. In 1758, a British attack on the fort was repelled, but the French destroyed the fort on 24 November 1758 as another British expedition threatened to take Fort Duquesne. The British erected Fort Pitt atop the ruins of Fort Duquesne, and this new fort would lend its name to the American city of Pittsburgh.